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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28291104">beautiful lies.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheshireanwriter/pseuds/cheshireanwriter'>cheshireanwriter</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>alternate universes. [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>TWICE (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst with a Happy Ending, Enemies to Lovers, F/F</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 02:02:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,092</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28291104</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheshireanwriter/pseuds/cheshireanwriter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sana and Momo raise a child. With a twist.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hirai Momo/Minatozaki Sana</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>alternate universes. [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1529135</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>109</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>beautiful lies.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This story is based on an image I saw on Pinterest years ago. I hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Sana watches the child with love in her eyes, reaching out a tender hand, and gently caressing her beautiful face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The child lets out a squeal of glee, laughing, and Sana steps back, watching the mother and father of the child go to her, happiness in their eyes that she thinks they’d rightfully earned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana turns to see Momo, black cloak around her slim shoulders, hair the color of night sky, and fiery red eyes staring at her with deep melancholy behind a bone-white mask resembling a skull that sends shivers down the length of her spine.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She is,” Sana says, caution tugging at every word that escapes her lips.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She always will be.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana only nods.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A few years pass, and Sana’s sitting in the sunlight atop emerald green grass, watching the little girl she’s been entrusted with, eyes brimming with love and affection.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She’s growing up to be strong.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana turns to see Momo standing in the shadows of the canopy of trees, watching the girl with those red, red eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know. Because I’ve stayed strong.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Momo looks at her, and Sana sees a deep sadness, a sort of lostness pooled in the inferno depths of her gaze, and it almost hurts. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes. Of course.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It falls silent, and Sana returns her attention back to the little girl, only to feel a nagging sensation somewhere in her mind. She turns back again, meeting Momo’s pools of fire with her own gentle orbs of emerald and sapphire.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why do you have that mask on all the time?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Momo stays silent for a few moments before she turns to Sana, her eyes speaking volumes that she can’t seem to decipher.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s no hint of doubt in Momo’s voice, though she doesn’t look at Sana.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So you won’t fall in love with me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana watches on in silence, tears cascading down her face as she watches the now fifteen-year-old girl kneeling at her father’s grave, a look of utter torment on her face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Love is a powerful entity. It can control even Life and Death at will.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What does love have to do with any of this? It's your kind’s fault that things like this happen,” Sana snaps, turning to Momo with eyes brimming with pain.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana's surprised to see that Momo's turned away from her and from the girl and her mother, clearly upset in the way the line of her back stands rigid, her shoulders tense.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes. I suppose it is Death's fault in the end.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There's hurt in Momo's voice, deep with the same sorrow that Sana’s learned to pair with the reaper, and a kind of resignation that Sana’s only ever heard in the humans lucky enough to have lived long lives.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s then that Sana realizes her bluntness of words. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait. I'm sorry. I didn't mean that.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She cautiously walks toward Momo, reaching out, when Momo abruptly whirls around, eyes wide as she stumbles backward, away from Sana.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“D-Don't touch me!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> Momo has one deathly pale hand up as if warding Sana away, and that's when Sana catches the glimmer of tears in her eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Realization hits her like a bullet, and guilt washes over her, urging her forward. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You're hurting too. I didn't know. I'm sorry, I really am.” Sana takes another step forward towards Momo, only to have her stumble back again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Stay away from me.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Momo’s voice is soft, weak, so unlike the calm and steady entity that Sana had been partnered with for the past fifteen years.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana feels a pang of heartache in her chest as she watches Momo back away, cowering away from her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It's Death's job to do these things. I understand.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana advances towards Momo with more confidence this time, and with a swift hand, she captures Momo's wrist. Her skin has no warmth to it, and her wrist seems to be barely there, almost as if she’s a ghost of a body. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Momo doesn't look at her, only avoids her gaze, and Sana can't tell what she's feeling because of the mask of death encompassing her face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let go. You can't—shouldn't touch me. It's dangerous.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Disgust and self-loathing sink deep into Momo’s tone as she attempts to pull away from Sana’s grip.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You haven’t ever done anything to hurt me,” Sana says, brows furrowing as she realizes how true her statement is. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana’s never seen Momo attempting to harm someone, nevermind kill, and it confuses her because all her existence, she’d been brought up to believe that grim reapers were all bloodthirsty, malicious killers. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I—I have the capability to. I don’t want to hurt you or the girl. Please.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Momo’s voice is as soft as the rustle of leaves, her gaze as timid as a child’s, and Sana lets go, biting her lip when she sees striking red against paper pale skin. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The marred skin quickly disappears underneath Momo’s cloak of dark, dark chocolate, before she backs away from Sana, though not far.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Never too far.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Fifteen more years pass, and Sana watches the girl—she will forever be a little girl to her—as she speaks with her significant other with stars in her eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A smile pulls against her lips, and it’s at times like these that she wonders what it feels like to fall in love.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her eyes gradually shift to the ever-silent entity who’s standing in the corner of the rather cozy cafe that they’re in, and for some reason, unknown to her, she calls out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Momo.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Momo’s response is automatic, her head jerking up to turn to her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana can barely make out curious eyes underneath the mask of death. She only then realizes that throughout the twenty-five years that she’d known the grim reaper, she’s never seen her face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana makes her way over to the grim reaper, settling to stand beside her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana isn’t touching the reaper, yet she can feel cold emanating from the entity standing silently beside her. Momo doesn’t move nor talk, and Sana feels the overwhelming urge to fill in the gap of silence between them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How are you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s the dumbest question she’s sure she has ever asked, and Sana wishes she’d never opened her mouth in the first place.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Tired.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana startles. She hadn’t expected an answer from the grim reaper, and she especially hadn’t expected an answer like that. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nevermind. It’s nothing.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana frowns, but lets her be, leaning delicately against the display of china, content with watching the happiness in her child’s eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her thoughts begin to drift towards Momo and she glances towards her, scanning the dark robes and the contrastingly white mask and wonders what lies beneath the surface. Before she can process what she’s doing, she finds herself standing in front of the servant of Death, staring deep into eyes created from Hell’s flames, opened wide in blatant surprise. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“W-What are you doing?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana ignores the frightened tone of Momo’s voice and reaches up to touch the mask, to feel it under her fingers, to allow the icy surface to freeze her skin and seep into her bones—it’s almost addictive. It’s cold and hard and smooth and it reminds her of the reaper’s skin, though she remembers her skin to have been softer. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When her eyes flit upwards to catch Momo’s gaze once more, she feels the urge to pull away the mask.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s been long enough, she thinks. It’s been twenty-five years, and although that time span is as good as nothing to them, it’s long enough.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t,” Momo whispers, “please.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The plea is weak, and there’s something in her eyes that spurs her forward. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana gently slides her fingers towards the edges of the mask, feeling her fingertips hook underneath what she now realizes is porcelain, feeling the contrast of the reaper’s skin beneath it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She’s leaving.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Momo’s slipping from her grasp, as tangible as smoke, leaving behind nothing but the scent of lilies and the lingering cold at the tips of her fingers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Momo never sleeps.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana knows this because she wakes up at intervals in the night to check on the girl, only to find the reaper leaning against the corner of a wall nearby, like a silent sentry doing what needs to be done, fulfilling the duties she’s been given.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At these times of night, Momo looks to be nothing but a white mask, floating in midair like an ill-suited spaceship.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana remembers having been frightened of the eerie sight at the beginning of their assignment, though over time, she’s come to find comfort in the presence of the vigilant reaper. Comfort in Death. She never would have imagined it possible.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Momo?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s movement and Sana attempts not to flinch when the masked face swivels towards her (it still has an effect of making her uncomfortable despite the fact that she’s memorized it to its minute details) and softly pats the couch, signaling the reaper to sit with her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She notices the hesitance in Momo’s movements as she gradually makes her way towards her, steps utterly silent, not even the rustle of her cloak breaking the muted quiet of the night.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Momo stands a safe distance from her, close enough to be heard, but far enough so that walking away would be an easily viable option.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sit down? Please?” Sana implores, blinking into red eyes that seem to glow in the darkness of the room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s no acknowledgment of Sana’s request, but then she catches a soft sigh from the depths of the hood and behind the encasing mask, and she shifts to make room for the reaper who takes a seat, albeit at the very edge of the couch.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is there a reason for this?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana frowns. “It’s been thirty years. Don’t you think it’s past due time to at least talk?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s ridiculous, if anything, now that Sana thinks about it, not having had a proper conversation in the time it would take to live half of a human life.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re not supposed to speak to one another.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then can I ask you a question?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Momo makes a small noise of consent, albeit hesitant.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why do people love me, but hate you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s a cruel question, but Sana wants to hear what Momo has to say—wants to know what she feels.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She finds herself gasping when cold fingers touch her cheek, so cold that it feels as if her skin might boil beneath them, and her own hand flies up to cover the reaper’s, feeling as if she’d forgotten how to breathe.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The red eyes that Sana knows will be forever etched into her mind burn into her own, hot and passionate and a stark contrast to how cold the reaper’s fingers are, and she finds herself searching for something in her gaze.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Because,” she breathes, “you ‘re a beautiful lie and I am a painful truth.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her words, softly spoken as if to lessen the impact, hurts more than she’d expected it to, and Sana finds her hands reaching to push back the hood that hides raven hair before descending to pull away the mask.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s no resistance this time, and Sana watches the way Momo closes her sorrowful eyes in silent acceptance. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s all it takes for her to finally whisk away the mask.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A gasp escapes her before she can so much as attempt to conceal it, stunned in place as if time had frozen, refusing to move forward.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Momo is beautiful in a way that words can’t describe, breathtaking and ethereal, long lashes fluttering to reveal her eyes that contrast against pale skin, yet match the vibrant color of her lips. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The slope of her nose, her cheekbones, the lines of her jaw are all epitomes of perfection that Sana wouldn’t have been able to imagine if she’d tried—and she’s imagined what she’d look like hundreds of thousands of times in her head.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re beautiful,” Sana finally manages to say.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Momo shakes her head. “You don’t understand. You can't see me like this. You can’t.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana gently places what she now recognizes as a mask created from porcelain beside her, the ugly exterior that had been hiding the beauty within.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She reaches up carefully, slowly as to not frighten the reaper, to cup Momo’s cold cheek, hearing a sound bordering on a whimper that she releases that sounds too real, too raw for Sana not to feel a squeeze in her heart.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana can’t help but wonder what Momo had been through, why she stubbornly keeps on the grotesque mask to hide her features, why she covers herself as if to hide from the world, as if she’s ashamed of the being that she is.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana's never had to be ashamed of who she is, being a protector of Life, the one to sustain the beauty that Life brings to the world.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry for hating you when I don’t even understand why.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Momo looks away, but doesn’t pull away from her touch. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s better that way. To hate me,” she says.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana doesn’t like how the word ‘hate’ forms on Momo’s lips like it belongs there, she won’t stand for it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t hate you. And I won’t. Not now, not in the future.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She hugs her and Momo sinks into her embrace as if it’s the only thing that has the power to support her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana smiles.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana begins to catch little things of Momo that tug at her heartstrings.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It hadn’t taken much coaxing for Momo to agree to stow away her mask, finding the lack of need to keep it on when Sana already knows what lies beneath. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The agreement turns out to be a blessing because Momo is full of various expressions that Sana would never have thought possible coming from the seemingly stoic reaper.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana finds herself sneaking glances at her on intervals that Momo never seems to catch, studying the way her left brow jerks upwards on its own when she discovers something interesting, or the way the corners of her lips tilt upwards so slightly she almost misses it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And as the years go by, she realizes that something has developed in the recesses of her heart, something that beats when the reaper’s hand brushes her skin or when she makes eye contact with her for a split second too long.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s something that wells up affection and fondness that only grows stronger when they watch the girl get married with the love of her life and Sana catches the single tear that falls down her pale cheek, watching as she sniffs and wipes it away as if angry at the display of emotion.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana simply smiles at the reaper when she looks at her with embarrassment written on her face, but allows her privacy by turning her attention away to watch the progression of the wedding.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The emotion clicks into place when the girl’s first child is born and Momo looks down at the baby with blatant wonder and amazement despite clearly taking care to maintain her distance.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana takes her hand without a word and tugs her forward so she stands above the newborn child, ignoring Momo’s frantic muttering that she couldn’t decipher if she tried.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re not going to hurt her by being near her.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But—”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana looks her in the eyes and holds them. “You’re not.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Momo relaxes in her grip. “…Right.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana knows it’s wrong to feel this way, but she knows, it’s far too late to go back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>By the time Momo had first met Sana, she’d already made her decision:</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Not her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana was everything she wasn’t, everything she wanted to be, everything she desired to have, and everything Momo knew she’d ever need. She was also everything she could never keep.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana was beautiful—is beautiful. Golden hair of silk cascading down her shoulders in intricate waves, blue-green eyes glimmering with life, skin that’s been kissed by the sun, and the aura of gentleness that never leaves her side. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That was why she needed to make sure that she wouldn’t emerge victorious, not this time, not when Sana was her adversary, not when she couldn’t even bear the thought of hurting her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The look in Sana’s beautiful eyes that resembled the sky and the ocean and the infinite expanse of emerald green fields of grass all at once had left Momo speechless, and she remembers looking down at the child and feeling nothing but emptiness at the knowledge that she wasn’t allowed to enjoy her happiness.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She had already felt it happening then, the rotting beneath her skin, the burning pain of hellfire beginning its growth at the spot where a heart should have been, that would eventually consume her if she failed to tempt Sana into false love.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Let it rot. It’s no less than I deserve.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The mask hid the single tear that slid down her cheek, the only evidence of her sorrow that she’d allow, would disappear without a trace.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She didn’t want this existence anymore.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She’d make it stop.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Sana falls to her knees, Momo knows that the girl is in danger.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She’s not a girl anymore, having reached her late forties, but nevertheless, in Momo’s eyes, she will always be nothing but a girl.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana’s strangled cry pierces her ears and she’s by her side in a single instant, frantic in her haste to do something, anything to stop the possibility of death that would be her responsibility without it being her doing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sana? Sana, stay with me,” Momo says, grasping onto her trembling frame, “It’s not her time. You know it isn’t.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tears track their way down her cheeks and at that moment Momo thinks she would do anything to make her pain stop, to stop her suffering, because Sana doesn’t deserve it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Their existences are tethered to the girl’s, so not long after, they’re transported into an emergency room, Momo’s arm protectively maintaining its embrace in desperation and fear that all of her work, her restraint of her love for Sana, might be for nothing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She catches fragments of words that tell her that the girl had been in a car accident before Sana releases another cry of pain and Momo crushes her into her body, knowing that this is the best she can do, wincing when Sana’s nails dig into her skin, clawing at what Momo can only imagine to be unbearable pain.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It goes on for what feels like an eternity before Sana’s body slumps into her, heaving in strained breaths that Momo attempts to console by stroking her back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana sobs and Momo feels her pain as if it’s her own.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay. It’s over now. You’re okay.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Abruptly, Sana jerks herself out of her arms and before Momo has the chance to feel hurt, she stumbles towards the girl much like a drunkard would after a long night of indulging herself, and Momo silently follows in her footsteps.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana gasps in relief, Momo watching the way her eyes linger on the heart monitor that beeps steadily as it should, the green wavelengths measuring the strength of the girl’s life.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Soon after, the girl is transferred to a hospital ward, her wife entering the room in a frenzy that could match Sana’s, and Momo can’t help but feel out of place in a room that spills with an emotion that she can’t seem to relate to, except when it comes to Sana.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She feels a grim smile tug at the corners of her lips and she turns away to retreat outside of the room, to at least be far enough so she won’t have to feel as if she’d stepped onto holy ground that shouldn’t be trod on, but a warm hand circles her wrist, still weak and slightly trembling.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s a familiar touch now.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thank you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana’s every touch never fails to ease the now dull throb that had only been growing, and she knows that if she takes off her cloak, she’ll see black veins stretching out in tendrils to wrap around her skin, a vast expanse of rotting flesh.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Only Sana’s voluntary touch could make the pain go away, if only for a moment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She refuses to turn in fear of what she might see, afraid that she won’t be strong enough to fight the persistent attraction that she can’t help but feel towards Sana.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t do anything.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The grip around her wrist tightens almost imperceptibly. “You’re the reason why she’s still alive. You helped me. I…I don’t think I would have been able to make it without you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Momo stills and she knows Sana’s picked up on her hesitance because she turns her around gently, as if she’s as fragile as the mask she’d put away after Sana had coaxed her out from behind the porcelain piece.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana’s so beautiful it hurts, even when her blonde locks are mussed and there are still remnants of tears glistening on her lashes and down her cheeks like tiny crystals, as if even her pain is beautiful.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So stay. You have the right to.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Momo doesn’t have the strength to say no. She’s never had the strength.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Not with Sana.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Time is running out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girl is in her eighties and she has children and grandchildren who make her smile and makes her happy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Momo has turned to a black scarf to hide her neck, the rotting flesh, the deadly tendrils of darkness having begun to wrap around the pale skin of her throat to choke her, and although the pain is becoming stronger by the year, she holds on.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana only seems to become brighter by the day and Momo finds solace in watching her happiness, nursing the pain in her body that never fades to stay strong.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She refrains from talking much anymore in fear that her pain might peek out from the trembling of her voice and the breathiness of her tone, because she knows if Sana finds out it could be the end for the both of them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her weakness angers her, the way her body seems to be failing on her even when she has the capability of immortality, but she doesn’t allow that anger to fester into spite.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It isn’t as if she’d be able to anyway.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A few more years pass and Momo finds herself having to pick up the mask she had discarded once more.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The tendrils of black have crawled up her jaw and have begun their ascent to her chin, her cheeks, forehead, and eventually, she knows, they would take her eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She places the mask over her features without a word, and although Sana is upset with her, Momo is adamant in doing what she knows she must do.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She hopes that one day Sana will understand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girl reaches her final days at the age of ninety-five.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They watch as her body prepares to submit to the hands of death, and Sana seems sad, but not angry. She doesn’t leave her side and she weeps when the girl’s wife weeps and stays silent for the remainder of those days, not saying a word.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>On her final day, Sana moves to her side and leans against her shoulder and Momo finds herself collapsing under her as if Sana had dealt her a blow and not offered her a show of affection.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She hears the shatter of the mask that she only then realizes had fallen off in her sudden inability to make use of her legs, and she desperately lowers her head so her hair shrouds the evidence of her pain.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Momo!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Momo knows she isn’t, knows that Sana knows she isn’t, but she can’t think straight because her head is spinning and the floor looks like it’s about to swallow her up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Somehow, she finds herself being propped up and then all she can see is Sana’s face. She’s so beautiful and Momo knows she’s reached her limit, so she doesn’t hold back when her heart urges her to reach out and touch the girl she has loved for ninety-five years.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Y-Your face. Why—What is that? Why is this happening?” Sana says frantically.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Momo attempts to smile, knowing that it’s weak. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Afterall, smiling is a foreign action to her, she hasn’t had much to smile for, and even as she feels her existence ebbing away like the ocean’s tide tends to do, she feels peace. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But then, if she is at peace, why can she taste salt on her lips?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I love you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana’s expression is priceless. It’s almost enough to make Momo laugh.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was rotting from the moment we met. If a reaper doesn’t seduce the Life we’re paired with, we cease to exist. You didn’t know that, did you?” she said, a wry chuckle escaping her lips. “But I was willing to. I killed so many people. I could before because I never cared, but—but I couldn’t hurt you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The words spill from her lips as if a dam had been broken, and the tears fail to cease, pouring as if there is no limit, and Momo realizes that she really is dying—ceasing to exist.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana looks as if she’s been struck by lightning, her eyes searching her face in an attempt to discover the lie that isn’t there, and when it seems she’s come to terms with Momo’s words, she begins to cry.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why didn’t you tell me? You should have told me!” she yells, holding Momo tightly in her arms as if that would somehow stop the inevitable.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You would have tried to stop this somehow. I couldn’t allow that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You idiot!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lines of black begin to creep into her vision and Momo feels fear grip her in its cold, unrelenting grasp and she reaches out to clutch at Sana’s dress in hopes that it would alleviate some of the fear.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m scared, Sana. Will you—Will you stay with me?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s something dangerous in Sana’s eyes that Momo can only see brief glimpses of, but she can do nothing but cling on.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana’s voice is calm. “Were you in pain?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“ …Yes.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The entire time.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No less than what I deserve.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s silence that scares her more than the black that is filling her vision so it’s as if she’s peeking through blinds, but she thinks she sees Sana turning back to take one last look at the girl before returning her attention back to her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A hand cups her cheek and Momo shuts her eyes, waiting for her existence to fade away into nothing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I love you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then, Sana’s kissing her, lips so soft they feel as if they aren’t there pressing into hers, and Momo attempts to push her away, her hands against her shoulders, but Sana doesn’t budge and only deepens the kiss.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The tendrils of black begin to recede from her vision and Momo sobs into Sana’s lips because she’s too weak to stop this stupidity, and her body feels light and the pain is gone, and her chest feels full.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Everything fades to white.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What do we do about those two?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What did they do?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They somehow equalized each other, some sort of balance. I’ve never seen anything like it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What are their names?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Momo and Sana.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“…I believe rebirths are in order.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Unnie!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Momo turns at the voice, smiling when she spots Dahyun running towards her and crosses her arms, tilting her head to the side as she waits for her to catch up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What do you want?” she asks in mock annoyance.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dahyun shoves her and Momo laughs, slinging her arm over her slim shoulders as they continue to walk, exiting the campus. The younger girl clings to her waist and looks up at Momo with eyes that resemble a forlorn puppy’s, and she knows exactly what her motive is.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What now, Dahyun?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know you’re the best unnie ever, right?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Momo rolls her eyes. “Just spit it out, you sweet talker.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dahyun grins, sticking out her tongue and says, “So, I have this friend of a friend and she’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> nice, like she’s super nice, and pretty, and she has like a </span>
  <em>
    <span>massive</span>
  </em>
  <span> crush on you, Unnie, and I may or may not have set you two up?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Momo stops in her tracks, raises her brow and flicks the girl on the forehead.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Forget about it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Momo walks into the cafe with dread weighing her limbs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She checks her watch for the fifth time in the past minute before scanning the room, looking for the table with the blue candle that Dahyun had said she’d set up. She’s going to kill that girl one day.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She spots it in the corner of the cafe next to the windows, and feels her heart skip a beat when she notices that there’s a girl sitting at the table, back turned to her. Something about it coils in her stomach as if she’s both repelled and attracted at the same time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She’s never been one to back down from a challenge so she starts forward and somehow makes it to the table without stumbling once.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The girl is wearing a white dress and her hair is a vibrant pink that catches the rays of the sun, and when Momo eventually stops to stand in front of her, she feels an electric tingle run throughout her veins when she locks eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She thinks she sees the girl shiver, though she can’t be sure, and a shy expression crosses her face that Momo can’t help but think is endearing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hello, my name is Minatozaki Sana,” the girl says, smiling softly and standing from her seat.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She smells like sunlight, sea, and summer grass.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Momo clears her throat and extends a hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Momo. Hirai Momo.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She smiles the same time the girl does and when Sana’s hand touches hers, she thinks that she never wants to let go. There’s something familiar in her grip, in the way she talks, especially something about her eyes, and Momo breathes in.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Have we met before?” Sana asks tentatively.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Momo almost laughs out loud, but she stifles it in time, narrowing her eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And maybe it’s the trick of the light or a brief flash of her imagination, but she could have sworn Sana’s eyes looked almost blue-green and her hair looked as golden as the sun, as if she were seeing a faded photograph beneath the new.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sana gasps lightly then blinks and Momo thinks that maybe, maybe there’s something really there.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Perhaps we have.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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